Today on the show we start with a discussion about the retirement of Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman. Then, Gov. Brown is meeting with water managers to address California's drought issues. Meanwhile, GOP congressman introduce a bill to halt San Joaquin River restoration. Plus, can tech innovation make guns safer?, Pediatricians urge parents to secure their firearms, Tijuana suffers from slow Internet speeds, plus much more.
Rep. Henry Waxman on his retirement: Will continue to fight for 'things that I believe'
Veteran Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman announced his retirement Thursday, to the surprise of many on Capitol Hill. The 74-year-old has spent four decades in Congress, and his absence marks the end of an era for California politics.
RELATED: Rep. Henry Waxman announces retirement from Congress
Shortly after announcing his retirement, Waxman spoke with Take Two's Alex Cohen from his office in Washington to talk about his decision to leave office, what legislation he's proud to have been a part of and what's next for him.
Interview Highlights:
On why he is retiring:
"I am not stepping down. I am going to serve until the end of the year, but I'm not going to run for reelection. At the end of the year, I will have been in the Congress for 40 years. I think this is a good moment to turn the job over to somebody younger who could develop seniority, take on the task of carrying on some of the fights that I have been involved in and are important to our community in Los Angeles.
"I have been very proud of the accomplishments, and I'm always mindful of the fact that my parents said to me, 'The rich and the powerful had strong advocates. What you've got to do is stand up for the poor, the sick, the elderly and people who don't have other voices on their behalf.'"
On the accomplishments he's most proud of:
"My battles against the tobacco industry, which ended with legislation to regulate them for the first time ever. The Affordable Care Act that is going to provide millions of people access to health insurance, even if they've had preexisting medical conditions, and stop them from being discriminated against as women have to pay more, just because they're women.
"The Clean Air Act and the Safe Drinking Water law, which are the most powerful environmental laws that are on the books. And the job there is still undone until we do something about climate change, but the president is moving forward with that I can say with satisfaction."
On the criticism of the Affordable Care Act:
"This is a transition period when you have something this complicated as big as the Affordable Care Act, there were problems when Medicare was being phased in, or even the Medicare prescription drug bill, which took place just several years ago. At the beginning, people threw up their hands, 'This is just terrible its not working.'
"Every American citizen will be able to go to an exchange and buy a health insurance policy. They won't be prohibited if they can't afford it because if they're very low income they'll have some help to pay for it. If they have been sick in the past, they'll be able to get insurance and not be discriminated against. People are seeing the benefits of those who are on Medicare, because preventive services are now available for free, and the cost for pharmaceuticals are not going to be extraordinary for seniors as they've been in the past.
"But before this law, I authored laws to expand health care for kids and pregnant women below the poverty line. ... Just to be sure children as a category have access to health insurance, they'll certainly have it now under the Affordable Care Act, but we had to fight for that. In this country, we spend more money on health care than anywhere in the world, but yet we've had millions without access to it. It's not a fair system; we've got to pull it together.
"I don't think this is the end result. The flaws are an important transition as we try to pull our system together so we can pull down health care costs and make sure the needs of all Americans are met when they have health issues."
On the difficult of achieving bipartisan compromise:
"Bipartisan compromise has always been important to me. Almost every bill that I've authored into law — and I've probably authored more than just about anybody else — had bipartisan support. We're going through a difficult time now in Congress. It's quite dysfunctional, because the Tea Party Republican extremists have taken over, and their view is compromise is a dirty word.
"Even talking and working with Democrats is like complicity with the enemy. Well, that's ridiculous. I think Republicans are going to reject that. They're having a civil war in their own party because the Republicans don't want a party that's going to be so anti doing anything for the public.
"Even in the last year, we got some good bills through, working on a bipartisan basis. Selling the spectrum for telecommunications to raise money for first responders to be able to have an inter-operable system to communicate. We gave the FDA authority to track drugs that might be contaminated. These are important things. It's not the big things. What we ought to be doing now is trying to get people jobs. That's the most important thing. The Republicans at the moment want to say no to everything that President Obama wants, just because it's Obama. That doesn't make sense to me. It's unfortunate."
On his experience working with other Democrats:
"I want to work with those who agree with me on an issue and work with them another time if they disagree, but stand up and fight for what I believe in. I found myself dealing with the Clean Air Act, with the Democratic chairman of my committee, John Dingle from Detroit, was siding with the Reagan Administration to gut the law in the 1980s, we later worked together to improve it.
"When President Obama became president, I ran for the chairmanship. John Dingle had been there for 37 years as chairman of the committee, and I knew that the President maybe had only a year to get important laws through. I thought I could do a better job, and the Democratic caucus supported me to replace John Dingle as chairman. He's a great member of Congress, he's a historical figure, in what he's been able to get through. After I won, he was really decent about it all. We worked together, because what we ultimately care about is getting good things done. "
Is he proud of his reputation for being "short in stature, feisty and quite tenacious"?
"Absolutely. Well, one, I can't so anything about being short, but what I really care about is to do what I can for the public interest, trying to help people, and sometimes that means you have to go in and speak out. I don't take it personally when I end up in a political fight, because people have a point of view, but I do try to win because I think it's important.
"I believe government has to play a very essential role in helping people have an equal opportunity and to be treated fairly, and if things don't turn out well, to have a safety net under them. To respect the dignity of every individual, not to be so far down at the bottom that there's just no help for them at all. I fought for health care and I fought for a safety net program, Social Security is essential. Those are the things I believe in."
On what's next for him:
"I don't know. I am in Congress until the end of this year, then after that I will think through what options I have. If I'm going to have a career aside from being in Congress, I felt this was the time to make that transition. But I don't know what I'm transitioning to, but I will stay active in fighting for the things that I believe in and to make good policy progress for people."
On what he sees as the future of the California delegation:
"California is the largest state. It's a powerful state. We've had a lot of good, new members just in the last election come and join us. We'll have others as well. I think sometimes people look at Californians a little differently because there's so many of us in Congress, but we're going to be heard. We've got to be sure that California's interests are protected."
On his top priority for the rest of his term:
"My top priority is to work with the administration in trying to get rules in place to stop the contribution of greenhouse gases that are causing climate change and threaten our planet. If we don't take real steps in this direction, we may only have around 15 years before we get to the point where whatever we do is going to be too late. And we're going to see the seas rising and the climate that we're threatened with every day change dramatically.
"So I think it's an essential issue. I'm astonished that the Republicans refuse to believe or hear the overwhelming scientific consensus. They act as if there's no problem at all, and they just want to protect the oil, gas and coal industries. I think that's short-sighted. I thought the issue was put very well by Elon Musk when he said, 'If there's just a 10 percent chance that the dire predictions about climate change are right, how can we take the risk on the only atmosphere we share?' Because once its gone, its gone. We've got to continue to fight for doing something about climate change."
On his concern about the future of the Tribune Company:
"We've been trying to get information about the Tribune's plans for the L.A. Times and other newspapers. I fear that when they're finished with all their business transactions, the L.A. Times won't be able to survive. We rely on the newspaper. I know there are other media that communicate news we rely on, but I want a viable L.A. Times. This is a major newspaper in our area and an important area of the country."
Gov. Brown meeting with SoCal water managers to address drought
Less than two weeks after declaring a drought emergency, Governor Jerry Brown is in Los Angeles this morning meeting with 15 water managers from Southern California to discuss the ongoing drought conditions.
KPCC's Molly Peterson is at Metropolitan Water District, headquarters where the meeting is taking place. She joins the show with an update on what's happening in the meeting.
GOP bill aims to stop San Joaquin River restoration
Yesterday, California republican congressmen Devin Nunes, David Valadao and Kevin McCarthy introduced a bill aimed at repealing efforts to connect the to the San Francisco Bay.
This is effectively heating up the fight — maybe to a boiling point — between Northern California and the Central Valley. To help us understand the issues here we're joined by hydrologist Jay Famiglietti, director of the UC Center for Hydrologic Modelling at UC Irvine.
A look back at Rep. Henry Waxman's decades-long career in Congress
After four decades on the hill, Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman has decided to call it quits.
RELATED: Rep. Henry Waxman announces retirement from Congress
The 74-year-old is considered one of the most liberal members of Congress. For more on his lengthy career and today's announcement we're joined by KPCC's Washington correspondent Kitty Felde.
Ask Emily on Take Two: Is the ACA working for you?
Emily Bazar of the California Healthcare Foundation Center for Health Reporting joins host A Martinez to answer consumers’ questions about the Affordable Health Act.
Pediatricians urged to ask parents: Is your gun safely stored?
First it was screen time, now the American Association of Pediatrics is taking on gun safety.
In a new report published in the February issue of its journal, Pediatrics, it reported that 7,391 children were hospitalized for gunshot wounds in the U.S. in 2009 — about 20 a day. Of those, 1,000 were under the age of 15.
The study found more than half of the injuries — 4, 559 — were the result of assaults. Another 270 were suicide attempts. Of all the children hospitalized, 453 died from their injuries.
KPCC's Deepa Fernandes has the story.
Can tech innovation make guns safer?
Rates of gun violence have been dropping in the U.S. for at least five years.
That said, you're still more likely to die from gunfire in this country — almost 20 times more likely — than in any other wealthy, industrialized nation. That's according to a study commissioned by President Obama, in the wake of the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre.
There are many ideas for how to curb gun violence, including increasing security and enacting tougher gun control laws. But what about technology?
A group of tech investors in San Francisco think it might be the answer. They've formed a group called the Smart Tech Foundation, and set out a challenge. They're offering $1 million to entrepreneurs with ideas to make firearms safer.
Jim Pitkow, director of the Smart Tech Foundation, joins the show with more.
Departing DWP chief Ron Nichols says biggest accomplishments are environmental ones
Ron Nichols, head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, leaves his job tomorrow. We heard yesterday about the controversy surrounding how $40-million in ratepayer money was spent, and today, we'll hear about his biggest achievements.
KPCC's Molly Peterson brings us this report.
Why are the nation's richest 1 percent fearing for their safety?
The one percent is feeling pretty nervous these days. There hasn't been a whole lot of love for the nation's wealthiest people, and some of the uber rich are concerned that they may actually be in danger.
Politico's Ben White, author of the piece "Why the rich are freaking out" and the site's chief economic correspondent joins the show to discuss.
Mexican government partners with anti-cartel vigilante groups in Michoacán
In the Mexican state of Michoacán, armed civilian groups continue to challenge the powerful drug cartels in the region. The federal government began by calling earlier this month for the groups to lay down their arms.
But this week, the government said it reached a deal with the groups, known as "autodefensas," or "self-defense' groups, to incorporate local members to join with police. Journalist Verónica Calderón has been reporting from Michoacán for El País. She joins the show with more.
State of Affairs: Henry Waxman, Gov. Jerry Brown, interim LA sheriff and more
It's Thursday, and that means it's time for State of Affairs, our look at politics and government throughout California. To help us with that we're joined in studio by KPCC political reporter Alice Walton and KPCC Political editor Oscar Garza.
We start with the news this morning that congressman Henry Waxman is stepping down from his seat. What does the future of the seat look like?
Governor Brown who was at the Metropolitan Water District headquarters here in Los Angeles this morning, talking about the drought. Now the meeting was private, but what do we know about who was there and what they discussed?
You know the situation has got to be dire, considering the governor got a call yesterday from President Obama. What went down there?
Speaking of the Governor, a new poll out from the Public Policy Institute of California finds Californians are giving him a record-high job approval rating. He still hasn't said whether he's running for another term but is this approval to be expected? What else did this PPIC poll tell us?
Also in the news this week, California State Senator Rod Wright was convicted for allegedly living outside of his Inglewood district. What's next for Wright, and for the state's Democratic Party?
Orange County Undersheriff John Scott was selected to be L.A. County's interim sheriff once Sheriff Lee Baca leaves office. Yesterday on the show we heard a bit more about him and what he might do in that post. What does this hire mean for the average person living in L.A. County?
A financial audit released this week showed mismanagement at the Central Basin Municipal Water District. What does the water district do and what did this audit find?
We know all too well that California has a lot of elections and it can be tough keeping up with all of them, but this week we found out the two Republican candidates running for governor — Neel Kashkari and California Assemblyman Tim Donnelly — have kind of a spotty voting history. How much does this matter to voters?
Super Bowl beef simmers between friends from Washington and Colorado
Sports can bring out the best and the worst in fans, and when loved ones root for a team playing your own, things can sometimes get a little tense.
KPCC business reporter Ben Bergman and Cracked.com editor Soren Bowie joined us to talk about how the upcoming Super Bowl is affecting their friendship and provide their predictions on the game.
Will Anthony Kiedis go shirtless at the Super Bowl? There's a bet for that
Have an idea of what Gatorade color will douse the Super Bowl winning coach? Or if one of the members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be shirtless during the halftime show?
We might have a proposition for you.
Novelty prop bets on the events around the Super Bowl focus on everything going on outside of the game. Think lowest temperature, the length of the national anthem or how many times we'll see shots of Peyton's little brother, Eli.
John Avello, director of Race & Sports operations at Wynn Las Vegas, joins the show with more.
Tijuana’s need for Internet speed
By some measures, Mexico might have some of the fastest Internet speeds in Latin America. But for Tijuana's ambitious tech entrepreneurs and aspiring professional gamers, it's still painfully slow. They know much faster connections lie just across the border, and feel like Mexico's telecom giants are holding them back.
From KPBS and The Fronteras Desk, David Wagner reports.
I spent some time with Gustavo Leyva to find out more about this digital divide. In the super popular online video game League of Legends, he's known as 'h4ckerv2.' And when I say he's known, I mean he's known. His Facebook page has close to 12,000 likes.
Playing as Tryndamere, the Barbarian King, Leyva has competed throughout Mexico, Chile and even Germany. And he's cleaned up nicely, too. He says he made around $7,000 playing League of Legends in the second half of 2013.
Leyva is striving to become a full-time pro. But one formidable foe stands in his way: Internet service in Tijuana. Average connectionspeeds in Mexico lag behind those in the U.S. and in other countries where pros thrive.
"I actually lived in San Diego," Leyva said. "So, there's like a huge difference. It's the same amount, you know, moneywise, but you don't get the same service or speed."
One way pros make money is by streaming their games so fans can watch. Hundreds of people tune in to see Leyva eviscerate his opponents. But his connection sometimes buckles under all the traffic.
"It doesn't crash, but the quality is super bad," Leyva said. "If I had better quality, I'd probably have more viewers."
Skype Fails And Lost Business Opportunities
But Internet service isn't just an issue for hardcore gamers. It's also a thorn in the side of Tijuana's emerging tech economy. Many of the scrappy start-ups here are based inside the BIT Center. It's a modern-looking complex with huge, open spaces, concrete walls and sleek, colorful furniture.
Claudio Arriola is the director, and he has a start-up of his own. He recalls one of the times when shoddy Internet connections hurt his business.
"That was a Skype conference call between a partner in Merida, Yucatan, and one in Madrid," Arriola said. "There was no way that whole day that we could have a decent Skype call. If it wasn't my Internet, it was the one in Merida. And that was to try to make a proposal for a customer. Well that never happened."
On top of dropped meetings, Arriola said he can't sell his products even in Mexico. His companymakes web-based communication tools for small to mid-sized companies. But in Mexico, Arriola said those kinds of companies can't rely on web-based tools... because they can't rely on the web.
"We decided, don't spend too much time involved with the Mexican market," Arriola said. "Until that is solved, let's go after the U.S. market or other countries where they can implement that software-as-a-service product right away without being concerned about having a bad Internet connection."
Arriola says for now, the connection at the BIT Center gets the job done. But he's hoping to have more options soon.
The Richest Man In The World
Historically, most of Mexico's telecom lines have been owned by one man, Carlos Slim, the richest person in the world. But in recent years, the Mexican government has been trying to break up Slim's monopoly.
Still, there are only two providers in Tijuana, and Arriola says both charge too much.
But let's put this in perspective: Mexico hardly is in the dial-up dark ages. They're basically on par with speeds in the United States circa 2007.
"Within the Americas, they're doing fairly well," David Belson of Akamai Technologies said. "Looking at a global assessment, they're kind of middle of the pack."
Akamai monitors global Internet traffic and ranks countries by speed for their quarterly 'State of the Internet' report. Belson says by some measures, Mexico has the fastest Internet amongst all the Latin American countries Akamai surveys. And they've only been getting better.
"Over the last six years, the average connection speed in Mexico has more than tripled. Mexico has actually seen better improvement than the U.S. over that period of time. From my perspective, that's a good sign."
Still, for heavy Internet users who straddle the border, speeds in Mexico can be more than frustrating.
Leyva thinks the difference in speed definitely makes it easier to be an aspiring professional gamer in the United States. For those who only want to check email, watch videos, scroll through Facebook, the difference across the border won't seem very stark. But if — like Leyva — you're looking to do some serious damage online, a slow connection could be your downfall.