Today on the show, California Gov. Jerry Brown joins us to discuss the state's water woes. Then, Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson talk about immigration reform and border security. Then, we take a look back at the week's news in the Friday Flashback, aggressive Academy Awards campaigns push for Oscar votes, Safeway may put itself on the auction block and much more.
Gov. Jerry Brown on his plan to ease California's water woes
California Governor Jerry Brown announced his emergency drought legislation earlier this week, a total of $687 million in relief aid.
The money is expected to help California get through this current water crisis and better prepare the state for the future. $549 million of that package will go to local conservation projects.
Gov. Brown joins the show to discuss the state's drought situation, what he and President Obama discussed during his visit, and how he plans to address the issue.
Interview Transcript:
New drought plan includes funding for local water conservation. What kind of projects are you envisioning?
"Well, projects to recycle water, programs that will enable people to conserve in different ways. There's just a whole bunch of different ways to use water better. That's something we leave up to the local communities since we can't figure it all out in headquarters, we do have bond funds and then we distribute them and on top of everything else we're going to be promoting through public communications in spots about the importance of using water very, very carefully."
Would you consider implementing mandatory conservation?
"Sure, but it is happening in certain localities, particularly the north, communities are embracing mandatory rationing, but to issue a command that would cover all 38.5 million people that's more chancy and we go about it carefully, but as far as water goes every local water district, every local community is the best judge of where they are so there's nothing that stops the local community from taking steps. Overall for the whole state of California, by the nature of that kind of broad challenge are moving very, very deliberately."
There's also concern about water storage, not mention in your plan. Do you intend to introduce some plans for water storage to help us get through this drought and future ones?
"Sure. Well water storage, by the way, is not a new topic. That's been talk about when my father was governor, then Ronald Reagan actually stopped the dam and I tried to propose some storage facilities and the voters in referendum turned that down. Then the next couple of governors didn't do anything. They kept quiet. Davis didn't do much and then Arnold started talking about things and got a bond, but it never went anywhere so here we are.
"Obviously building a dam or a storage facility is not as easy as you might think so we are definitely considering storage, both under the ground and above the ground and we're looking at a bond issue. Unfortunate, the size of the current bond issue doesn't appear very popular and it wouldn't have much chance at being passed. So we're at the drawing boards looking to see what we can do."
Whenever you talk about water, there's always politics. How do we get beyond these politics?
"Well, when you say we need, Sacramento is full of needs. That doesn't mean that you can satisfy them. The reason for that is in a democratic society divided by region, by party, by ideology, getting the majority or in some cases you need a two-third majority is not easy, but I am working to develop a reliable conveyance system of the Delta.
"We are now funding and promoting water recycling, but we can much, much further. There's a certain amount of it, but they've got great potential. In the storage area, that's something that's not going to be done during this drought. If we started tomorrow, it would many years so we're putting the pieces together, but remember since the days of Patt Brown no big water projects have been undertaken."
Meanwhile, millions of people have moved to California...
"Well, I think the thing that people ought to reflect on is that there have been people in California for the last 10 to 12 thousand years. That number, up until a couple hundred years ago, never exceeded a few hundred-thousand, maybe a million. Now we're at over 38 million and there's 32 million vehicles going 332 billion miles a year using petroleum so we're in a very extended, over extended situation here and how I've maneuvered and bring people along a path of sustainability and prudence, that something we'll have a lot chance to talk about over the next several days and months."
Another key factor is ground water. Former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed any legislation that would have established more regulation of ground water supply. Do you intend to push for more oversight?
"Yes, definitely, but as you said this previous governor vetoed it and there's a lot of opposition by farmers because the water under their ground, they feel is theirs. If they want to put a well down, who's to say no? So if and when we put a more regulatory regime in place, we would have had to overcome a lot of property owner-type feeling, but as the drought becomes more real, more damaging, we'll get there."
What are you doing in your own life and at home to use less water?
"Well, I'll tell you. According to our latest water bill, my wife and I are using about 35 gallons a day. That's low by California standards."
Are there points for you when you feel, "I know I should be doing this.."
"That's a good question. How often do you not want to flush your toilet. I would say that's personal questions and it's challenging, but there are reasons to be very careful in each of the major uses of water. For example, we don't wash dishes with a third of the dishwasher full, wait until it gets full. We don't water outside because we're on hillside, we don't normally have to do that, but there are plants that would probably like a little water. So we're cutting back and adhering to a rather tight regime, but as we go forward things will probably tighten up."
You have raised millions of dollars. There is a Brown for governor office in Oakland and yet officially speaking you haven't formally announced you'll be running for office again. Any sense of if and when you'll do something like that?
"Well, we still have a little more time for that decision and I think the law gives until March for candidates to make their decision public."
So you're still thinking it over?
"I'm always mulling these matters."
DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson on immigration reform and border security
Congress returns to Washington next week, but it's unlikely they'll take up immigration reform any time soon.
That particular legislation has stalled again. But once legislators do decide to tackle this topic, border security will certainly be part of any deal that's reached. That's where our next guest, Jeh Johnson comes in. He's the Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security.
Friday Flashback: Obama in Mexico, minimum wage, Jimmy Fallon and more
It's the end of another week and time for the Friday Flashback, Take Two's look at the week in news. This morning we're joined in-studio by Los Angeles Times columnist James Rainey, and we welcome first-time-ever flashback contestant Ashley Perez , an editor with Buzzfeed.
Let's start with President Obama who was in Mexico this week, trying to solidify a new trade agreement with our neighbors to the north and south, but this doesn't seem to be going as smoothly as one might expect. What's at issue here?
The Sochi Olympics are wrapping up this week. The U.S. didn't do quite as well as we'd hoped, which we were reminded of by, the Speed Skating coach for the Dutch. Does there seem to be some schadenfreude on the part of the rest of the world?
We've been talking about income inequality a lot lately. President Obama made his push for raising the minimum wage in his State of the Union a few weeks ago and this week the Congressional Budget Office released a report this week with a somewhat mixed conclusion on what raising the minimum wage would do. What did it say? What might happen?
Here in California there's been talk of a petition to split the state into six separate states. This week it got the green light to start collecting signatures for a ballot initiative. One question: Why?
Also abuzz leading up to the Oscars here in Hollywood is talk about the lack of diversity when it comes to the nominees. It's not the first time these complaints have been raised, so why is this still such an intractable issue?
Jimmy Fallon took over the Tonight Show from Jay Leno this week. A parade a celebrities from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to Kim Kardashian and Robert DeNiro came out on stage and gave him a $100. By all accounts he had a pretty great first night. Is this going to revive the late night spot?
Finally, Facebook bought the messaging app, What'sApp, for a record $16 billion. Remember when $1 billion seemed like a lot for Instagram? Is there such thing as an app bubble and could we be nearing it?
Aggressive Academy Awards campaigns push for Oscar votes
As the Academy Awards approach, many studios are actively pushing their films for big Oscar wins, with actor and actress appearances, billboards, full-page ads and more.
Liam Lacey, film critic for The Globe and Mail joined the show from Toronto to talk about this year's Oscar campaigns and the more controversial and creative ones of the past.
Screenwriter Terence Winter on penning 'The Wolf of Wall Street'
From the start, "The Wolf of Wall Street" is a non stop show of drugs, money, debauchery and sleazy people, like Leonardo DiCaprio's character Jordan Belfort.
Based on a true story, the film chronicles Belfort's rise from a low level stock broker to the head of a penny stock brokerage firm in Long Island, one that scams a lot of people out of a lot of money.
It's a story that held a lot of appeal for DiCaprio, Martin Scorcese who directed the film, and screenwriter Terence Winter.
Winter is no stranger to Hollywood. He's won awards for his work on the hit series "Boardwalk Empire" and "The Sopranos," but it's "The Wolf of Wall Street" that got him his first Oscar nomination for "Best Adapted Screenplay."
Mr. Winter joins the show to talk about penning this Oscar-nominated hit.
Mono Indian tribe seeks protection of California watersheds in response to drought
Governor Jerry Brown has outlined nearly $700 million in measures to respond to California's drought. The proposed legislation outlines funds to recapture and re-use storm water, increase conservation, and get relief to the hardest-hit areas, including 17 communities at risk of running out of drinking water in the coming months.
But one California Indian tribe is also trying to put the emphasis on long-term solutions, including focusing on where water is coming from and what can be done to better protect the state's watersheds, streams and meadows.
Much of the current tribal land of the North Fork Mono is forestland in the hills and mountains of the Sierras, home to important snowpack and rivers that feed the thirsty valley floor.
“When you’re trying to restore the water, you have to restore the land first so the land is functioning properly,” said Ron Goode, Tribal Chair for the North Fork Mono Tribe. “Most folks look at the river drainage as the watershed, but they don’t realize that the water comes from all over in the mountains.”
The health of the region’s meadows – key areas that retain and slowly release water — are in dire shape. Out of some 6,000 meadows in the Sierra Nevada, estimates Goode, only six could be considered healthy. Turning that number around could offer benefits for California’s farms and cities.
A US Forest Service survey found that meadow restoration in the Sierra Nevadas could increase the amount of groundwater stored in meadows by 50,000 ac-ft yearly.
“Even when we have light years of rain and snow, we’ll still be able to sustain what we need to be able to do as far as farming and anything else is concerned,” said Goode.
On Goode’s ranch in Clovis, at the foothills of the Sierras, the 62 deer he raises do have enough water -- for now. He estimates that the water table on his 3.5-acre farm has dropped two feet over the past decade.
He welcomed the federal and state response to the drought so far, but without more permanent solution, he said he expected water issues to continue.
California needs "to get our forest back to functioning the way it’s supposed to,” he said.
Jay Famiglietti on the severity of California's drought
Aside from monitoring the meadows, there's another way to get a good picture of the health of our water supply: From outerspace.
That's where the UC Center for Hydrologic Modeling has been conducting a mission to assess California's groundwater. Jay Famiglietti director of the UC Center for Hydrologic Modeling, led the study and joins the show with more.
Read the full report below:
Safeway may put itself on the auction block
The supermarket industry may be in for shakeup.
Earlier this week, Safeway announced its in talks to sell the company. The California-based company is the second largest grocery chain in the nation. But as shopping styles have changed, the mega market has found it tough to compete.
Burt Flickinger, supermarket analyst with Strategic Resource group in New York, joins the show to explain the repercussion of this deal
Rep. Darrell Steinberg introduces legislation to address privacy for students
Yesterday, State Senator Darrell Steinberg introduced legislation that aims to address a growing concern among educators and parents, the protection of student's personal information and privacy.
The bill would require companies to increase security surrounding the data of students and prohibit them from selling this information to outside parties, like advertisers or marketers. For more on it we're joined by Senator Steinberg.
Major League Soccer purchases LA's Chivas USA team
Chivas USA has had a troubled history since its beginnings less than a decade ago.
The Major League Soccer team is the American counterpart to Chivas, a famous soccer team in Mexico. But it's struggled to achieve the same kind of success as its name sake.
It finished last in its conference for two straight years and has gone through several staffing shake-ups. Just yesterday, MLS announced it will take over the team's ownership, effective immediately.
For more we're joined by Nick Green, soccer blogger and columnist for the LA Newspaper Group.
Study: Our own voice may be key to what we find most appealing
What kind of voice do you find most appealing?
Maybe you like a soft breathy voice like Marilyn Monroe? And how many women swoon over the slow sultry drawl of Matthew McConaughey?
A new study from the University of British Columbia finds some interesting reasons for why we like the voices we do. We're joined by the study's lead author, Dr. Molly Babel.
To check out the full report: Toward a More Nuanced View of Vocal Attractiveness, PLoS ONE Journal.