Garrett McNamara may have broken a world record for surfing a giant, 100-foot wave in Portugal. Then, Gabby Giffords and the NRA's Wayne LaPierre testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about gun violence, what will immigration reform mean for gay American citizens and their foreign partners, the L.A. Dodgers and Time Warner Cable reach deal for new channel, plus much more.
Gabby Giffords, NRA's Wayne LaPierre testify on gun violence
This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding the first Congressional hearing on gun violence since the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords made the opening statement:
"Violence is a big problem. Too many children are dying. We must do something. It will be hard, but the time is now. Americans are counting on you. Thank you."
Wayne La Pierre, head of the National Rifle Association, also testified:
"Law-abiding gun owners will not accept blame for the acts of violent or deranged criminals. Nor do we believe that the government should dictate what we can lawfully own and use to protect our families."
For the latest we go to Dan Berman, deputy Congressional editor at Politico.
What immigration reform means for binational same-sex couples
Earlier this week, a group of senators, the so called Gang of Eight, unveiled their plans for immigration reform.
Their blueprint did not, however, include provisions for same-sex binational couples. Unlike straight couples, federal law currently does not allow gay citizens to marry their foreign partners, making them citizens.
We’ll speak with Patrick Egan, a professor of political science at New York University.
LA Dodgers and Time Warner Cable reach deal for new channel
This week Time Warner Cable announced a 25-year, $7 billion deal for a Dodgers baseball channel.
Sounds like a good idea, but the agreement has some subscribers calling foul. According to the plan, Time Warner customers will have to foot the bill for it and could see a $5 hike on their monthly cable bill.
So what if you want to catch Mad Men, but don't want to pay extra for those games that you won't watch?
Here to help us sort it out, David Lazarus, business columnist for the L.A. Times.
What is 'unlocking' a cell phone and why is it illegal?
As of January 26, it became illegal to unlock your cell phone, meaning that even if you own it outright, you can't alter the device to make it to work on another carrier without risking a fine.
The rule states that unlocking your phone is a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. As Molly Wood of CNET says in her article on the subject:
"Specifically, it violates a portion of the law enacted in 2000 that makes it illegal to bypass technology designed to restrict access to a certain product. And that provision has bedeviled consumers, researchers, and lawyers for 12 years -- it's time for it to disappear or be substantially rewritten."
So what's a consumer to do? Wood joins the show to helps is parse through the legal implications of this new rule.
'Coffee rust' fungus brews up trouble in Central America
Coffee growers in Central America are facing a big crisis due to the increasing prevalence of coffee rust. No, it's not what happens when you forget to wash out your coffee pot, it's a devastating fungus that could have lasting effects on the coffee crop, and on the price of coffee at home.
"It's a disease caused by a fungal rust that enters into the leaf and causes yellow spots all over the leaf and it interferes with the normal functioning of the leaf," said Professor John Vandermeer, an ecologist who studies coffee rust at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. "When the leaf drops off the plant, that cuts down on all the photosynthesis that the plant is going to do, pretty dramatically, actually."
The fungus is devastating crops in Central America, which has become one of the most important growing regions in the world. It's the worst outbreak in more than 40 years and it's estimated that this year's crop could be cut by a third or more.
The British colonies in Southern India, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Sumatra and Java were once top coffee growing regions, but their crops were decimated by coffee rust. According to an article by the American Phytopathological Society, in 1870, the British were exporing 100 million pounds of coffee from Ceylon, but by 1889, that number dropped to 5 million. Within 20 years, coffee production had ceased and the colonists shifted their focus to growing and harvesting tea instead.
"Many historians believe that that's one of the reasons it became so common in Central America and Mexico and North and South America right about that same time," said Vandermeer. "We think that what happened in those areas was gradually the system was changing to be more intensified to the point where the disease reached a tipping point, became an epidemic and remained an epidemic."
Vandermeer and his colleagues posit that one of the issues that may be contributing to the outbreak is the shift from the traditional way of growing coffee, under the shade of the forest, to a more modern way of growing it in full sun. The question now is whether or not this epidemic will continue in the years ahead. If that is the case, coffee lovers can expect the cost of their favorite pick-me-up to increase greatly.
"Our estimates are that the effects could be very large, but the coffee could recuperate relatively rapidly. Next year the yields are going to be very reduced, so I can imagine that that's going to have quite an effect on coffee prices in general world wide," said Vandermeer. "The real question in my mind is whether this disease is going to be a continual problem like this not just this year, but in the foreseeable future."
Climate change could have negative effects on hydropower
We've heard a lot about immigration today but one of the other big issues President Obama pledged to tackle in his inaugural address is climate change. It's an important issue for California, which relies on heavy snow in the winter and abundant runoff in the spring to produce cheap energy.
But the effect of climate change on hydropower is not an issue that many federal regulators have chosen to address. KQED's Molly Samuel has more.
Surfer Garrett McNamara conquers massive wave in Portugal (Photos)
There may be a new world record in surfing. Professional big-wave surfer Garrett McNamara barreled down a behemoth wave off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal earlier this week, and some witnesses in his camp claim it was 100-feet high.
Billabong's XXL panel still has to verify the height of the wave, but if it's true, McNamara will have broken the current world record of 78 feet, a record he set back in 2011 in the same spot. Verification is key, and questions surrounding McNamara's initial claims of wave height have been discredited in the past.
"The folks who were promoting his [2011] expedition proclaimed the wave was 90-feet high," said Chris Dixon, founding online editor of Surfer Magazine, who has also judged big-wave surfing competitions. "It was later judged by the Guinness Book of World Records panel to be 78-feet high, which is one foot higher than a world record that was set in 2008 by Mike Parsons at the Cortez Bank off of California."
Determining the exact height of a wave is not an easy feat. Judges study multiple several photographs, all depicting the wave at different angles. The key is to pinpoint the trough of the wave, referring to the flat portion where it begins to curve upward. The judges then take a measurement of the surfer in a crouching position and use that height measurement to determine the size of the wave.
"It's not completely precise and I think it would be difficult to be utterly precise," said Dixon. "It's very difficult to tell by that photograph where the trough of the wave is. It's clearly a huge wave, but it may be that where you see him on the wave is sort of the bottom of the wave. It's a very flat photograph, so it's very difficult to put it into dimension."
This kind of big-wave surfing is separated into two categories: Open and pure paddle. In open, or tow surfing, a surfer is allowed to be towed out to sea by a jet ski, as McNamara was in his most recent run in Portugal. Alternately, pure paddle surfing involves catching the wave with your bare hands by paddling out to the swell area, and is much more difficult.
Hawaii, California and Australia are well-known big-wave surfing spots, but Nazaré, Portugal has become the place where record-breakers make history. Similarly to Black's Beach in San Diego, the ocean off the coast of Nazaré is above a deep canyon, which focuses the wave to make them larger than they are in other areas of the same beach.
"You get these massive North Atlantic storms, which I think most surfers are in agreement these storms are getting bigger and bigger and the swells funnel into this canyon," said Dixon. "They hit this beach and are magnified a great deal over the actual swell height of ocean."
Video of this year's record-breaking ride:
Video of record-breaking ride of 2011:
US economic growth shrinks during fourth quarter
Economic growth shrank in the last quarter of 2012, according to a preliminary report by the Commerce Department. The nation's output of goods and services decreased slightly, after growing at an annual rate of more than three percent in the previous quarter.
Is this an aberration or a sign of bad things to come?
Joining us for some analysis is Ryan Avent, economics correspondent for The Economist.
California high speed rail plan still in need of land
Just six months remain until California is set to break ground on its high speed rail project. A project with a price tag of more than $68 billion. The intensely debated plan would link San Diego to San Francisco by way of trains traveling up to 220 miles per hour.
But so far the state has yet to purchase a single acre of the land it needs to launch the project.
Reporter Tim Sheehan, who has been covering the high speed rail plan for the Fresno Bee, joins the show with an update.
Why Guantanamo Bay won't be closed any time soon
Immigration reform has been a top priority for President Obama since his 2008 campaign, the same year he promised that, if elected, he would close the prison at Guantanamo Bay Cuba
The prison is still open and is currently housing 166 men. Earlier this week the administration signalled it has no plans to close it any time soon.
Daniel Fried, the State Department employee responsible for resettling detainees was reassigned and his office closed. He will not be replaced. The move comes at the same time that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other detainees prepare to go to on trial for planning the 9/11 attacks.
Carol Rosenberg covers military affairs for the Miami Herald newspaper and she joins us on the line from Camp Justice in Guantanamo Bay.
Harbaugh brothers bring sibling rivalry drama to Super Bowl XLVII
This Sunday's Super Bowl is the first time in American sports history that brothers will compete for a championship as head coaches. On one side, we have John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens, and on the other, his little brother Jim, with the San Francisco 49ers.
Last week, the Harbaughs said they would only communicate through texts leading up to the game, but they did talk on Monday and may go out for a quiet dinner tonight in New Orleans. Sports history has had plenty of interesting sibling rivalries — Venus and Serena Williams; Ronde and Tiki Barber — but there never has been one like the Harbaughs.
Joining us now to breakdown the sports sibling dynamic are sports reporters (and brothers) Brian and Andy Kamenetzky.
'The Myth Of The Perfect Girl' and how to raise a happy, healthy daughter
Girls today face a lot of pressure: Be smart, popular and perfect while doing well in school, playing sports and volunteering. But too often they spend so much time meeting everyone else's expectations, which doesn't leave them much time for themselves.
In her new book, "The Myth Of The Perfect Girl: Helping Our Daughters Find Authentic Success and Happiness in School and Life," author and educational consultant Ana Homayoun, talks about her experience working with young women and how parents can help their kids cope with increasing pressures.