Today, we take a look at President Obama's visit to Los Angeles, where he'll be making a fundraising stop at the home of "Scandal" and "Grey's Anatomy" producer Shonda Rhimes and speaking at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College on “the importance of job-driven skills training." Plus: An update on the situation in Gaza; the California Film Commission's annual progress report on the state’s film and television tax incentive program; and A Martinez talks with legendary drummer and musician Sheila E in studio about her long career, her early dream to be an Olympic athlete and her newest album "Sheila E Icon."
President Obama faces criticism for California fundraising trip
President Obama is in California today. Right now he's in Northern California where he has two fundraisers planned in the Bay Area. He'll then head to Los Angeles for a fundraiser at the home of "Scandal" screenwriter Shonda Rhimes.
The president has come in for some criticism for taking the trip with the conflict between Israel and Gaza raging and the crisis in Ukraine deepening.
Political analyst David Mark joins Take Two for more on the president's West Coast fundraising trip. He's editor-in-chief of Politix and author of the forthcoming book "Dog Whistles, Walk-Backs and Washington Handshakes: Decoding the Slang, Jargon, and Bluster of American Political Speech."
Gaza couple live streams sights and sounds of city under seige
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in the Middle East Wednesday, shuttling among players in the current conflict as parties work toward a ceasefire. Rockets continued to be fired from Gaza into Israel, according to Haaretz. And residents in Gaza described more strikes from Israeli military.
With no immediate end to the fighting in sight, much of the focus is on the political leaders in the current conflict.
But one couple living in an 11th floor apartment in Gaza City is hoping to bring a personal view to what is going on.
Photojournalist Lara Aburamadan and her husband, Jehad, have been live-streaming the view of the city for the whole world to see.
In the video you can see rockets in the distance and hear the buzz of drones overhead. So far, their video channel has garnered more than 120,000 views from around the world.
To view the live video: www.ustream.tv/channel/jehadels
"We hear the sound of the missiles falling down and it's horrible," Aburamadan told Take Two via Skype from Gaza City. "It's really terrifying for us here."
Her husband, Jehad Saftawi, also a photojournalist, described the video stream as an effort to bring "more information, more details, more sounds about the reality of life" in Gaza City. He said he had to swap among three power sources, including personal batteries and a generator, in order to keep the stream going.
Tax credits for the film and TV industry
California has been trying hard to keep film and TV production in state.
Making movies and TV shows creates thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue.
For the last five years California's offered up to 100 million dollars a year in tax incentives to compete with incentives given by other states and coutnriesl.
But while Califorania's incentive have been popular, their success has been limited.
That's the gist of a report today from the California Film Commission, which administers the tax incentive program.
Southern California Public Radio's Brian Watt wrote about it here, and he joined Take Two to tell us more
'Sheila E Icon': The legendary drummer fuses decades of influences into new album
Musician Sheila E has done it all.
As the daughter of legendary Mexican-American percussionist Pete Escovedo, Sheila has toured and collaborated with Prince, she has fronted an '80s pop group and has remained one of the most famous drummers in music history.
Her debut album "The Glamorous Life" rocketed her to stardom in the 1980s with the song with the same name.
Listen to "The Glamorous Life" here
Thirty years later, she's back with her seventh studio album, called "Sheila E Icon." A Martinez talks with the legendary drummer in studio about her long career, her early dream to be an Olympic athlete and her newest album.
True Blood's Angela Robinson on the lack of LGBT characters on film
The LGBT advocacy group Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD, released its second-ever annual report on the depictions of gay, bisexual and transgender characters in Hollywood films and it found that in 2013 not much has changed.
The findings did show that there was a slight increase, but of the LGBT characters none were leads and lacked diversity. The report also found that of the 102 films released by major studios last year, only 17 of them had gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender characters.
We wanted to hear from someone in the industry so we turned to Angela Robinson, award-winning director and writer of the popular HBO show, "True Blood," which features a gay character.
Sports Roundup: Donald Sterling, Doc Rivers, New York Giants and more
Donald Sterling is refusing to go away quietly, which might mean that others will simply go away and how an honest answer needed clarification. This means it's time for sports with Andy and Brian Kamenetzky who cover everything sports for ESPN.
First up, an update on the latest Donald Sterling case. If he is going down, he's going down swinging. He has sued the NBA commissioner Adam Silver and his wife Shelly, claiming they defrauded him and violated corporate law in trying to sell the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Sterling is looking to freeze the $2 billion sale.
Also, current Clippers interim CEO Dick Parsons testified that coach and team president, Doc Rivers would leave if Sterling stays. He said the team's 20 sponsors are "on the edge of the pool and don't want to go in the water unless there is resolution."
There have also been talks from an executive of the NBA players union, that said Lebron James would lead a player boycott if Sterling still owns the team by opening night.
Former NFL coach Tony Dungy told the Tampa Tribune that he would not have drafted openly gay football player Michael Sam, because he wouldn't want to deal with all the distraction, but not due to his abilities as a player. He tried to clarify yesterday and said Sam's sexual orientation will not be a distraction to his teammates, but that the media attention will be. Is honesty still the best policy?
The NY Giants hired former wide receiver David Tyree as the team's director of player development. Tyree made the famous catch against his helmet in Super Bowl against the unbeaten Patriots. He has also said that he would trade that catch if it would stop homosexuals from getting married. People have a right to opinions, however Tyree will be in a position to make hiring decisions. How does this move play in today's climate?
Drought spurs concerns over Arrowhead bottling plant in desert
The Arrowhead bottling plant, owned by Nestle, is a long way from the snowy mountain peaks evoked by its label. In real life, it's situated in the San Gorgonio Pass, a hot, dry desert area of Southern California. It's on tribal lands of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians.
The plant draws water from an underground aquifer, a crucial source of water during this extreme drought. Exactly how much water it is pumping from the ground is not known, as the Morongo tribe is the sovereign entity there. Nestle Water reports the information to the tribe but does not have to disclose it to the state.
Reporter Ian James has been writing about concerns over the Arrowhead plant for the Desert Sun newspaper.
This week, Arrowhead responded to their reporting, saying they have a drought mitigation plan in place, but declined to reveal exact details.
Squatter takes over woman's house after she rents it out on Airbnb
There's an Airbnb horror story going on in Palm Springs right now. The popular service lets people easily rent out their homes and apartments, and if you've heard of it, you might've thought about renting out your own place.
But while using Airbnb might seem like easy money, it doesn't protect you against squatters, as one California woman has found out. What was supposed to be a month-long rental has turned into a huge problem ... the tenant just won't leave. And legally, he might not have to.
Carolyn Said is with the San Francisco Chronicle, and she joins A Martinez to discuss.
SeePolitical: Short, funny videos make sense of CA ballot props
The fall election is about three months away, but it's never too early to start thinking about ballot measures. Especially here in California where there can be lots for voters to wade through.
So far, there are seven ballot propositions on topics ranging from health care to the state budget to gambling. And not surprisingly, some of them can get a bit confusing.
To help clear up the confusion for voters, Nate Kaplan founded SeePolitical, a website that uses short, funny animated videos to break down the issues in unbiased and relatable way.
Here's a preview: