Today on the show we start with a discussion about President Obama's meeting with the presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador about the border crisis. Then, the L.A. juvenile immigration court docket has expanded lately as more Central American minors arrive here. Plus, Rob Reiner on 'And So It Goes' and finding new love at an old age, threatened red-legged frogs return to the Santa Monica Mountains, local Cambodians give testimony, await Khmer Rouge verdict, plus much more.
President Obama, Central American leaders to meet on border crisis
President Obama is meeting today with the presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, the three countries that have been the source of the recent surge in child migrants to the United States.
They're set to discuss what can be done to stem the flow of unaccompanied children across the border. Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, joins Take Two to discuss what may come out of the talks.
How the court system is dealing with the increased number of migrant children
A couple of times a week, on the high floors of a bank building near Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles, immigration judges hear the cases of migrant children.
The local juvenile immigration court docket has expanded lately as more Central American minors arrive in L.A., many reunited with family here while their cases are pending.
KPCC’s Leslie Berestein Rojas was in the courtroom this week and joins Take Two to explain how the children’s docket works and how the arrival of more kids affects the immigration court system.
Battle in the Big Bend of Texas over water right for fracking
The Big Bend of Texas is a border region renown for its desert landscapes and tranquility.
But parts of it lie within the oil-rich Permian Basin, the nation's highest producing oil field thanks to fracking technology. Now Mexico is drilling exploratory wells across the border from the Big Bend, saying it wants to start fracking operations there.
Of course, fracking requires water. And in the Big Bend, landowners are selling water for fracking —pitting conservationists against private property holders — who also consider themselves to be good stewards of the land.
From the Fronteras desk, Lorne Matalon reports.
Youth reporters take on community issues in East LA
The Boyle Heights Beat is a bilingual newspaper and website based in East LA that trains youth to report on important issues in their community.
Their latest summer edition features stories on public health, discipline in local schools, and the mixed reaction to a new Starbucks in the neighborhood. For more, we're joined in studio by two of the young reporters, Brizette Castellanos and Dulce Morales.
- What: Community Meeting, Cafe de Olla with the Boyle Heights Beat Reporting Team
- When: 10am to 12pm on Saturday, July 26
- Where: Boyle Heights City Hall, 2130 E 1st Street, L.A., CA 90033
- More info: http://www.boyleheightsbeat.com/event/boyle-heights-beats-july-community-meeting
Friday Flashback: Joseph Wood execution, Obama on immigration and more
Religious leaders of all stripes come out in support of migrant children, Southern California city of Bell votes to create a shelter for undocumented immigrants and the return of the Minutemen.
Just some of the topics we're tackling today in the Flashback - that's Take Two's look at the week in news. with
of the L.A. Times and
of La Opinión.
The execution of Arizona prisoner Joseph Wood via lethal injection took nearly two hours. He was gasping and snorting and many witnesses believe he suffered before his death. James, this has many calling for an end to the death penalty. Are we likely to see an end?
What about a change in the use for lethal injection this marks the third lethal injection execution this year that has had problems with this method?
President Obama met with the presidents of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala — the three countries which have been the greatest source of children crossing the border. What might come out of this meeting?
What do you think the Central American leaders are hoping to gain from the meet?
There was a piece in Politico today titled Obama's immigration flip flop. After saying he was powerless for quite some time, now he seems to be trying to do everything he can by executive order.
One of the interesting things to come out of this story is the mounting support from many religious leaders, both progressive and conservative, including here's Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention,
Does this surprise you that normally conservative groups are coming out in support of these detained migrants? Could they be coming out in favor of immigration reform because they see this changing demographic and realize that this is a huge untapped pool of potential church members?
Will having the support of religious leaders sway the political debate at all?
The City of Bell, not to far from Los Angeles, vote this week to use an existing space there as a shelter for undocumented children seized at the border. What's going on here? Who will pay for the shelter's renovation and upkeep?
How might this affect the political conversation of immigration reform? This week Jeb Bush co-authored an opinion piece on the need to not let the border crisis affect Congress' effort to pass immigration reform, and how this should really be the GOP's issue. What did Jeb Bush say about immigration reform?
Jeb Bush's op-ed seems to be on the side of compassion:
"These children are trying to escape horrific gang violence and dire conditions in their native countries. But the ease with which so many of them are illegally entering the U.S. underscores the inadequacy of our border security. We now have a humanitarian crisis on our southern border that demands strong leadership that respects the rule of law"
He also believes that this is an issue that the GOP should own:
"Now is the time for House Republicans to demonstrate leadership on this issue. Congress should not use the present crisis as an excuse to defer comprehensive immigration reform."
Obama, because he's being confronted on all sides on other issues, will probably be even more careful when it comes to immigration reform.
Replace lethal injections with firing squad? 9th Circuit Court Judge says yes
In Arizona this week, convicted murderer Joseph Rudolph Wood gasped and snorted for more than an hour and a half before dying from a lethal injection.
Just days before, a conservative federal appeals judge severely condemned the use of lethal injections. U.S. 9th Circuit Court Chief Judge Alex Kozinski's dissent in the case of Mr. Wood has once again stirred up the debate over how we execute people in this country. Judge Kozinski joins Take Two.
Threatened red-legged frogs return to the Santa Monica Mountains
Roughly 850 tadpoles, hatched from red-legged frog eggs, were released into the Santa Monica Mountains on Tuesday, marking the first time the threatened species has been reintroduced into the area after a decades-long absence.
“It’s very exciting. There haven’t been red-legged frogs here for at least 45 years, and they’re free here now," said Katy Delaney, a wildlife ecologist with the National Park Service who leads the project.
The three-year-long project is a joint effort among several groups, including the National Park Service, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, the U.S.Geological Survey, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.
Southern California Public Radio's Jed Kim reports.
New fossils suggest T. Rex hunted in packs
As if one single tyrannosaurus rex weren't menacing enough, there's now evidence that these massive carnivores might have hung out in posses. Here to tell us more is Brian Switek, who writes about all things dino for National Geographic.
Study: Blue whales at risk of being struck by ships
The blue whale population has remained fairly steady after nearly becoming extinct, but that doesn't mean they're completely out of harm's way
A recent study found that whale hot spots off the coast of California intersect with some of the busiest shipping lanes, causing them to get hit and die. It's something Ladd Irvine, senior faculty research assistant at the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, has been tracking and he joins Take Two to explain.
Joe Swanberg talks writing, directing and acting in 'Happy Christmas'
The new film "Happy Christmas" stars Anna Kendrick as Jenny, a 27-year-old woman who moves back to Chicago after a bad break up with her boyfriend Nick.
Jenny stays strong, but she isn't really all that reliable or responsible. Her free spirit changes the dynamic at her brother's house during a time of year that's all about the family: the holidays.
"Happy Christmas" was written and directed by Joe Swanberg, who also plays Jenny's older brother Jeff. He joins Take Two to talk about his new film.
Local Cambodians still awaiting Khmer Rouge verdict
It's been more than 30 years since the Khmer Rouge tore apart Cambodia, but some of its senior members are still being prosecuted.
KPCC's Josie Huang says the court cases, led by a UN-backed war tribunal, are closely followed in Long Beach, home to the largest Cambodian community in the U.S.
Miles Tackett of Breakestra back with solo album
Since the late 1990s, the group Breakestra has been performing fun music in and around Los Angeles. The City of Angels is where they got their start. They saw a funk music void and decided to fill it, notes one of the group's founding members, Miles Tackett.
Well, after doing that for more than a decade, Miles is taking a detour and going out on his own, releasing a new album titled "The Fool Who Wonders."
The change in sound might be a surprise to some, but when you listen to him talk about his early musical influences while growing up in Topanga Canyon, you realize that it's kind of expected. He grew up around bands like Little Feat and listening to everything from funk to underground hip-hop, during the 1970s.
Miles tells his tale of growing up in that scene, and how he went from falling asleep to his dad playing music to creating Breakestra to releasing his latest solo album.
Miles is performing Sunday, July 27th at Amoeba Records in Hollywood, CA.
Rob Reiner on 'And So It Goes' and finding new love at an old age
Award-winning actor, director, writer, producer Rob Reiner's career has run the gamut, from his days as Meathead in "All in the Family," to his directorial contributions with the "Princess Bride," "When Harry Met Sally," and "Stand By Me."
His new film "And So It Goes," starring Diane Keaton and Michael Douglas, hits theaters today.
Reiner joins Take Two to talk about what it's like to work with the seasoned, Academy-award-winning duo and why pursuing new love at an old age can be even more awkward than it was in your teens.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
TT: This is a romantic comedy for people of a certain age. Let’s just say it, Rob – old people…
RR: I don’t care what age you are…basically, it’s men and women and the dance they do with each other. My take on it is that women are just more mature, they’re more evolved, they’re much more in touch with what’s important in life; and men run around like idiots basically trying to figure out what they want until they find a woman that can show them what’s important.
TT: These are people who are supposed to have a full life of experiences to fall back on, but when it comes to these kinds of [intimate] moments, we’re all just kind of fumbling, inexperienced teenagers, aren’t we?
RR: Absolutely, and I think that, you know, it doesn’t matter what age you are; the first time you’re going to be intimate with somebody, its’ nerve-wracking, I mean, it’s frightening.
Even as you get older, it’s probably even more daunting because you know what’s at stake; I mean you know that there could be a lot of pain involved.
TT: You had Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton to work with. How much direction do you give a duo of that caliber? Do you just turn on the cameras and say, ‘Action!’?
RR: Pretty much. I mean they’re both tremendously experienced. Now, the fact is, both of these great actors, both academy-award winners, work in very different ways, so you do have to talk to them in a different way so that they can mesh.
I mean Michael is much more craft-oriented, Diane is very instinctive, kind of improvisational. She said to me before we started shooting, she said, ‘You know, I don’t act. I just am who I am,’ and I said, ‘Whoever you are is pretty good because you’re incredible in all the work you’ve done.’
But, you know, you have to find a way that they can mesh and they did. I was surprised at how easily they took to each other and [that] the chemistry was so good.
TT: Both Keaton and Douglas’s characters have had their spouses pass away in this…how does that detail play into how their relationship evolves?
RR: I think what it does is, both of these characters are very, very guarded because of the pain that they’ve had to go through with losing a spouse. So, they’re very hesitant to enter into a new relationship. That’s really what makes this an interesting little dance that they do with each other. Because, it’s not something you just enter into lightly. And I think Michael’s character tries to enter into it lightly, but Diane as, I say, the more evolved, the more mature character, has to show him what’s important and that it isn’t just a romp or a hookup.
TT: You have produced a lot in your career…what’s the one thing you’ve produced as a writer, director, or actor that are you most proud of?
RR: I think, at this point, it’s ‘Stand By Me.’ For me, it has the most meaning, because it was the first film that I made that was really an extension of my personality and it really shared my sensibility. It’s been the closest to me and it still is.