Today we examine the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting from multiple angles: The gun control question, school security, gun permitting and more. Plus, we meet a Syrian rapper who infuses revolutionary messages into his music, and much more.
Analyzing President Obama's reaction to Sandy Hook shooting
Funerals for some of the young victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting will be held there later today, while law enforcement officials continue their investigation into shooter Adam Lanza.
At a briefing this morning, authorities said it could be months before police turn the school back over to the district. Students who survived the Sandy Hook shooting will be sent to a new school
Last night, President Obama spoke at a memorial service in Newtown. He read the names of the victims aloud while people in the audience sobbed. He said as a nation, we are not doing enough to end gun violence:
"In the coming weeks, I'll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens, from law enforcement, to mental health professionals, to parents and educators, in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this, because what choice do we have? We can't accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say that we're powerless in the face of such carnage?"
His speech was called a "turning point" by some political observers and "inappropriate" by some republicans. Here with analysis is Allan Lichtman, a presidential historian at American University.
Why it's so difficult to change US gun control policy
President Obama says the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut should be a tipping point in our national conversation about guns.
There are an estimated 300 million privately owned firearms in the United State, and a recent Pew Survey showed Americans are split over gun control: 47 percent find it important to control gun ownership and 46 percent said it was more important to protect gun rights.
At least one prominent gun rights supporter is speaking out for gun policy changes. Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is a life-time member of the NRA and has an "A" score from the group, but on MSNBC's Morning Joe today, he said:
"I can honestly say that I've gone deer hunting... I just came with my family from deer hunting. I've never had more than three shells in a clip. Sometimes you don't get more than one shot anyway at a deer. It's time to move beyond rhetoric. We need to sit down and have a common sense discussion and move in a reasonable way."
In addition, some are calling for a ban on assault weapons and closing a loophole that allows people to make purchases at gun sales without background checks.
Paul Barrett is an editor at Bloomberg, and the author of the book, "Glock:The Rise of America's Gun," says guns are deeply embedded in American culture and that policy changes are difficult.
Conn. gun-range owner on Newtown's gun culture
The events in Newtown, Conn. on Friday put the gun culture of this rural area into the national spotlight. The area around Newtown is home to many public and private shooting facilities, including a gun training school called Connecticut Gun Permit.
Michael Capozziello, owner of Connecticut Gun Permit, about how the tragedy is changing some people's long-held view and how the town is coping.
School Security: LAPD ramps up patrols at LA elementary and middle schools
As parents dropped their kids off at school today, one thought ran through nearly everyone's mind: Will my child be safe?
The Los Angeles Unified School district is the second largest district in the nation, so keeping all of its campuses secure is no easy feat, especially in the midst of budget cuts.
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck is expected to announce a plan later this afternoon to step up patrols at elementary and middle schools. At a graduation ceremony of the police department's cadet program yesterday, Beck said he wants LAPD officers to visit elementary and middle schools at least once a day.
Producer Mary Plummer has been talking with parents at McKinley Elementary School in Pasadena about their feelings as they dropped off their kids this morning. Plus, Jill Barnes, coordinator for the Office of Emergency Services for the L.A. Unified, joins the show to talk about the security protocols currently in place at LAUSD schools.
Hollywood Monday: Fox reacts to Sandy Hook, 'The Hobbit' wins the box office
Mondays, L.A. Times entertainment writer Rebecca Keegan joins us to talk about Hollywood.
There is some news about box office and other things today, but we wanted to focus on the Sandy Hooks shootings, and the reaction to it in Hollywood. Fox pulled episodes of "Family Guy" and "American Dad" last night, worried that the material could come across as insensitive.
On "Saturday Night Live," the usual comedic opening was replaced by a children's choir singing a very somber version of Saturday night. And there were also some movie premieres cancelled.
This weekend was also very successful for "The Hobbit." Which brings up an interesting subject. There are many of really long films coming out this season. "The Hobbit" runs just under three hours, "Lincoln," "Les Miserables," "Zero Dark Thirty," are all more than two and a half hours.
What happened to the idea that a movie should be 90 minutes? And don't theater owners hate long movies?
Syrian rapper Omar Offendum talks music and his homeland
It was recently announced that the U.S. will send two batteries of Patriot missiles and 400 troops to the Turkish border to help defend that country from any spillover violence from Syria. Syrian regime forces fired ballistic missiles into rebel held areas earlier this week, a move seen as an escalation of the 20-month-long civil war.
But international forces aren't the only ones responding to the violence of the regime. Some activist hip-hop artists have taken inspiration from the struggles of the rebels and they've begun incorporating the revolutionary messages of protesters into their songs.
Syrian-American rapper Omar Offendum joins the show to talk about his connection with his homeland and how he incorporates recovultionary messages into his music.
Interview Highlights:
On the incorporation of real protest chants within some of Offendum’s music, particularly #Syria:
On the significance of titling songs #Syria and #Jan25:
“Well, I mean, it's just in reference to the fact that its a trending topic on Twitter. You know, we did that with a song that we released last year during the Egyptian revolution, we called it #Jan25 ... Syria was very much shut off from the world, and so citizen journalism was really kind of pushing this revolution. People were risking their lives day in and day out, going to protests filming them on their cell phones and on their cameras, and uploading that onto Youtube and keeping that motivation going on Twitter.
"Even to this day, I mean you can see, if you follow if you speak Arabic, if you follow kind of the Arabic tweets coming out of Syria, they can be very detailed. You know, they can literally say, Hey watch out on this particular street corner, there’s a guy who looks like he’s homeless and sleeping, but he’s actually a rat. Be careful. Like I mean it can get really really intensely detailed. So it’s just really become like a tool, more than anything, to help kind of facilitate a lot of the work that the activists are doing.”
On the use of bilingualism, both Arabic and English, within Offendum’s music:
On the demystification and beauty of the Arabic language:
On being banned from Syria and Offendum’s hope to be able to return one day:
LA Mayor's race heats up with first debate
Remember that crazy demon sheep political ad from a few years ago? The guy who made it, Fred Davis III, is back, working for a candidate who's running for mayor of L.A.
There's a primary scheduled for March 5th, and if no candidate wins a majority there will be a runoff in May. And the race really kicked off with a debate Saturday night. KPCC's Molly Peterson was there. She joins the show to give us a rundown of what happened.
List of candidates certified for Mayor of Los Angeles for 2013:
JAN PERRY, Los Angeles City Councilwoman
EMANUEL ALBERTO PLEITEZ, Technology Company Executive
ERIC GARCETTI, Los Angeles City Councilmember
WENDY J. GREUEL, Los Angeles City Controller
ADDIE M. MILLER, Citywide Advocate
KEVIN JAMES, Radio Broadcaster/Attorney
NORTON SANDLER, Factory Production Worker
YEHUDA “YJ” DRAIMAN, Neighborhood Council Secretary
Can Fred Davis win the Los Angeles mayor’s race for Kevin James?
Fred Davis has created ad campaigns for some of the biggest names in politics, including John McCain and Arnold Schwarzenegger. But like a lot of Angelinos, he doesn’t pay much attention to local elections.
"I’ve lived here since 1985, and I don’t remember voting in a mayor’s race,” Davis says.
He wasn’t interested in potholes and pensions until he ran into a persistent questioner when he spoke at a C-SPAN event in Culver City earlier this year. It was Kevin James, who approached Davis after the event.
“We sat down for two hours,” Davis says. “I was impressed.”
He says he was impressed by James’ intelligence and understanding of city issues. Davis has attended three debates and says James “blows the other candidates away.”
He has another motive. Davis sees in James a fresh a look.
“Here’s a guy that’s openly gay, who’s as smart as they come, who’s an avowed conservative Republican,” Davis says. “That’s an interesting face on a Republican to me and something the party needs to get to.”
Davis sits in his Hollywood Hills office on Mulholland Drive, just below the “W” in the Hollywood sign. He is surrounded by pictures of successful corporate and political clients and awards .
He says he’s raised about $500,000 – he won’t say from whom. City ethics rules will require him to name them in late January.
He hopes to raise at least $2 million more to spend on an independent ad campaign promoting James. The upstart candidate needs it. He has virtually no name recognition compared to the major candidates – City Controller Wendy Greuel and City Council members Eric Garcetti and Jan Perry.
James, 49, is a private attorney, former federal prosecutor and one-time late-night conservative radio talk show host who rails against government waste. Some have called Davis’ involvement a possible game changer for James.
“I certainly hope that’s the case,” James says. “But it doesn’t change at all my message of non-partisan solutions, of common sense governance in Los Angeles.”
As the only Republican in the contest, James will likely appeal to GOP voters, which could eat into Greuel’s support.
But the mayor’s race is non-partisan, and Davis hopes to attract voters of all stripes who, like himself, never cast ballots in mayoral elections – people who may be fed up with city government.
“A new guy, like Obama was when he ran for president (in 2008), can get new voters. And that’s part of the calculus,” Davis says.
This Oklahoma-born media man who still speaks with his hometown accent may be best known for outrageous ads. One ad put real ex-cons in pink tu-tus taking dance lessons to attack a Democrat who voted for a crime bill that funded rehabilitation programs.
When Davis worked for California U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, he portrayed her GOP primary opponent, Tom Campbell, as a demon sheep with blood red eyes roaming a grassy field.
Will Greuel, Garcetti and Perry end up as possessed animals? Davis breaks into a smile.
“Of course I can’t give away what we’re thinking,” he says.
The theme, he says, is one man – Kevin James – an outsider against entrenched politicians who’ve wrecked city government.
“It’d probably have to be some kind of one animal verses three," Davis says. "I don’t know what that would be exactly.”
Davis has made successes of long shots before.
“The key word is long shot,” says Claremont Government Professor Jack Pitney, a former research director for the national GOP. “Los Angeles is a Democratic city. Its unlikely a Republican – even a gay Republican – will be elected.”
It should be noted former Mayor Richard Riordan, who served in the 1990’s, was a Republican. But that was after the riots when voters turned to a conservative businessman to lead the city.
Davis is hoping to propel James to a second place finish in the March 5th primary, which would get him into a runoff.
“If he can get Kevin James into the runoff, that will be a major political accomplishment,” Pitney says. “He’s trying to remain relevant in an off-year.” That is, a year that doesn’t have any major elections around the country.
This year was tough for Davis. He came under fire after the New York Times reported on his plan for scathing attack ads against President Obama. Funders backed out. Davis apologized for what some saw as racial overtones to the ads.
But he says the ads still should have run.
“I think I was vindicated by the outcome of this last election,” Davis says. “And the phone has been ringing solidly ever since.”
He pauses and adds this: “We do things differently, and our clients win."
James technically is not a client. Davis is running a Super PAC, which means its activities can’t be coordinated with the James campaign.
But Davis says he nonetheless intends to put James in the mayor’s office.
Fiscal cliff would mean cutbacks to US-Mexico border security
President Obama and Speaker John Boehner met at the White House this morning to discuss the fiscal cliff. The two sides would need to come to some agreement tomorrow in order for the measure to get through Congress before the scheduled holiday break.
If the nation plunges over the fiscal cliff, it would have an immeasurable impact at the U.S. Mexico border. From the Fronteras Desk in Tucson, Michel Marizco reports.
NOGALES, Ariz. — If the nation plunges over the so-called fiscal cliff in a few weeks, the seven years of sustained buildup of U.S. Border Patrol agents would shift into the opposite direction.
At the Interstate 19 Border Patrol checkpoint in Arizona, a trio of agents inspect semitrailers and cars traveling up from the Mexican border toward Tucson. An agent standing in this lane is asking people their citizenship.
"How you doing? U.S. citizen?" he asks a truck driver who rumbles up in a bright red semitrailer.
The agent is also inspecting paperwork on the drivers of the semitrailer. There's a problem here, though. "Do you have any papers for this? This is expired.” He directs the driver to pull off to the side for a more thorough search.
The checkpoint sits about 20 miles north of the Nogales port of entry. It’s a stop-gap in the funnel, the last federal inspection for traffic heading north. Checkpoints like these across the nation are responsible for one-third of the Border Patrol’s total drug seizures in any given year.
Now talk of the fiscal cliff raises some uncomfortable possibilities. Nationwide, unemployment jumping to 10 percent. Higher taxes. Defense spending cuts. But here on the border, the discussion is the domestic security cuts.
This agent is one of 4,000 Border Patrol agents working in Arizona. The Border Patrol is the largest law enforcement agency in the country, at nearly 22,000 agents. The Homeland Security Department, its umbrella agency, is one of the departments facing possible cuts, or sequestration if politicians don't come up with a compromise.
Sequestration, if it happens, will mean fewer agents, longer lines, and less intelligence capabilities to combat organized crime along the border.
The White House’s budget office would not discuss details of proposed cuts. Instead it pointed to the testimony of Jeff Zients. He’s acting director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budgetand he addressed the House Armed Service Committee in August.
"If allowed to occur, the sequestration would be highly destructive to domestic investments, national security, and core government functions," Zientz said.
A more detailed look at the possible cuts comes from the House Appropriations Committee. It issued a report in October and estimated cuts of 3,400 Border Patrol agents, 3,400 Customs and Border Protection officers, and another 7,200 Transportation Security agents.
"None of this is carved in stone. There will be discretion in the agency to decide what cuts to make," said Edward Alden, a researcher at the Council on Foreign Relations.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent questions drivers traveling north on Interstate 19 in southern Arizona.
Logistically, cutting employees makes the most sense. Cutting border fence maintenance isn’t an option or the agency would lose all the headway it's made in building the massive border barrier. Grounding drones or helicopters is also not likely. The equipment’s already been purchased and the savings would be minimal.
"And that’s there. So those are expenditures that you can’t really walk away from," Alden said.
It’s not just Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol, or those lines at the checkpoints. If the cuts go into effect, the FBI is also targeted. The FBI would absorb a cut of a little more than $700 million dollars.
Konrad Motyka is president of the FBI Agents Association. He ticks off the list where those cuts would come in at the FBI.
"Upgrades, purchasing new automobiles, gasoline budget, purchasing new lab equipment, canceling of classes at the academy, those kinds of things," he said.
In other words, all kinds of support infrastructure for the FBI’s investigations into cross-border crime and corruption of federal agents.
Motyka predicts the FBI’s cuts would be called furloughs -- staff may not be permanently gone. But that doesn't mirror the grim outline of other suggestions put forward by the Appropriations Committee. In total, the committee predicted the Department of Justice would eliminate 7,500 positions. That includes 3,000 FBI, DEA, ATF agents and U.S. Marshals, and another 1,000 prosecutors. As for the Border Patrol, thousands would simply be laid off.
College students urge universities to divest from fossil fuels
An Associated Press poll out today finds nearly 80 percent of Americans believe temperatures are rising and that global warming will be a serious problem for the United States if nothing is done to combat it.
There's not nearly as much agreement when it comes to what should be done. Lately, some college students across the country are taking a new approach: asking their schools to divest from fossil fuel stocks.
Bryan Walsh, senior writer with Time Magazine joins the show to explain this strategy. Plus, we speak with 20-year-old Ali Roseberry Polier is one of the students organizing a new environmental campaign at her school, Swarthmore College, the first campus with a fossil fuel divestment campaign.
Columbine survivors on the lasting effects of a school shooting
In 1999, the world looked on with horror as news broke of a school shooting at Columbine High School in Jefferson County, Colorado. Two students named Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered a total of 12 students and one teacher and injured 21 others.
Stephen Houck was a senior there and now he's a parent of a young child, and Columbine English teacher Paula Reed, who survived the shooting and is still a teacher there.
We speak to them both about the lasting effects of this kind of tragedy.
What was your reaction to news about the Sandy Hook shooting?
Paula Reed: "There's always a strong reaction whenever there's a school shooting, but I think it was a lot stronger this time around and I think its because the children were so young. My first reaction was always to think about what I know is coming for those people and how much I wish I could spare them that and there's no way to do it, so I just know exactly what they're going through and how long it takes to get past it. So while the rest of the country is talking about healing and then eventually forgetting they'll just be starting to figure out what hit them."
As someone who suffers from PTSD, what would you say to help the survivors cope?
Reed: "I think the thing that I would stress the most was what I desperately needed when [Columbine] first happened, and that was for somebody to promise me that I would survive it. Now when I have problems they're very much linked to a specific trigger and I can take care of it through self-talk or if I need to with medication. When it was first happening I felt like I was drowning and I was sure that I wasn't going to make it and I couldn't see a light, it was so dark. I would tell them, 'I swear to you there's a light, you might not see it and you may not see it for years, but I promise you its there and its worth hanging tough.'"
What are your thoughts on the media coverage of the event?
Reed: "It's actually really helpful when the news headlines fade and the news trucks go home and you can start to take care of each other. The media covers what it can sell, so the more the rest of the country consumes the sensationalist sort of coverage that can go on, I certainly believe that news stories should be covered, but there is a strand that's very sensationalist and asks young traumatized children to tell the world how they feel and it feeds on people and it's cruel. The more people consume that, the more it gets put on the air. If people turn off the TV turn off the radio turn off the print media that sensationalizes it, then think we're going to go back to a more sane coverage that's not damaging to the people who went through it."
Reed was found through our Public Insight Network. Click here for more information on how to get involved and become a source.