Senate voted gun control measures likely to fail unless a compromise can be worked out, the rise and popularity of the AR-15, the Warriors choke at the finals.
US Senate to vote on gun control measures today
The U.S. Senate is set to vote today on four proposed gun control measures, including one from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that would prevent suspected terrorists from buying guns.
The votes were scheduled after a filibuster by Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), who held the Senate floor for 15 hours last week on the heels of the mass shooting in Orlando— the deadliest in U.S. history.
Variations of the four proposals have all come up for a vote and failed before. Could things be different this time around?
POLITICO Congressional reporter
joined Take Two to discuss.
Interview highlights:
What are the measures up for a vote today and what are their chances?
We have what we call in Congressional parlance 'side-by-sides,' where each party has a proposal that's supposed to be pitted against the other one. There's one on universal background checks from Chris Murphy. It's similar to a bill in 2013 written by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA)... this measure is a little bit more broad and doesn't contain as much stuff as friendly to gun owners, so Toomey will not be voting for it, so that's going to be mostly partisan vote, that will fail. There's also a Republican background checks proposal that focuses more on mental health. That's seen as a fig leaf by Democrats, that will fail.
And then a lot of attention will be on this terrorist watch list legislation. Each party has a proposal to keep terrorists from buying firearms. The Feinstein proposal would put the Attorney General mostly in charge of that process, while Sen. John Cornyn of Texas has a Republican proposal that would turn that over mostly to the courts. Democrats say that would not prevent enough of these sales, and Republicans say Feinstein's proposal does not protect the Second Amendment enough, so you can kind of see where this is going. We expect all four of these votes to fail.
Is there any chance that Senators could work out a compromise measure?
There were some talks across the party leadership last week, but those kind of fell apart on a compromise, and that's why you're seeing these sort of re-do votes today. But there's a Maine Senator Susan Collins, and a group of non-leadership, mostly Republicans, but there are a couple of Democrats involved... Mostly these moderate deal-making types of lawmakers are working on something apart from the leadership that would essentially have a smaller list of suspected terrorists that would be totally blocked from buying firearms, and a larger list that would have included Omar Mateen, the shooter in Orlando, that would ping the FBI if this person got a gun.
Her idea, we don't even know if it would get a vote yet, but her idea is that the Senate needs to use this opportunity and this debate to actually pass something. I haven't seen evidence that that's where the Senate is going, but there still is some hope that we could get 60 votes to pass something here this week on terrorism.
To hear the full interview, click the blue player above.
How did the AR-15 become such a popular purchase for gun owners?
When talking gun control, the AR-15 comes up a lot in conversation. The weapon - and ones like it - have been used in many of the high-profile mass shootings of recent years: Aurora, Newtown and last December in San Bernadino.
In states where it's legal to buy them, AR-15's are easy to get and a pretty popular choice. The federal government doesn't track sales of the AR-15, but it's estimated that there are around 3 or 4 million out there in people's gun collections.
For more on the allure of the AR-15, we were joined by former Marine Thomas Gibbons-Neff. He is now a staff writer at the Washington Post and he's been writing about the rise of this weapon.
Interview Highlights
What's the history of the AR-15?
"The AR-15 was designed by Eugene Stoner in the late 50's. The AR, contrary to popular belief, does not stand for assault rifle. It actually stands for Arma light rifle and Arma light was a company that Eugene Stoner worked for and then it was bought by Colt and Colt still owns that copyright AR-15. It's a black rifle synthetic and aluminum, it's small weighs six to seven pounds unloaded maybe about eight pounds loaded...pretty compact and pretty familiar looking."
Some people will call this an assault rifle. The pro-gun lobby will say these are not assault rifles. So which is it?
"It's pretty much semantics but the doctrinal definition of an assault rifle is a weapon that can be fully automatic so, really a military rifle. For the AR-15 crowd who are arguing that it's not an assault rifle they say, 'This is semi-automatic and the fully automatic is the assault rifle while the semi-automatic is not.'"
Why do civilians want this weapon?
"The AR-15 has been a sporting rifle since it's inception. I mean it's popularity these days is compounded by movies, video games, two protracted wars overseas where you see this weapon in news footage...the Bin Laden raid it's an AR-15 look alike. People are interested in it as hobbyists who want to maybe experience that part of the military. People want to defend their homes with a weapon that has been proven overseas and at the end of the day a lot of people just really enjoy being able to put 30 rounds out of a rifle barrel relatively quickly and the fact that you can customize these things..."
Has there been a shift in culture that has brought us to this point?
"We've had the second amendment, we've had guns in our culture for a very long time...I think there's this kind of subculture where gun advertisers really promote this to a certain crowd: movies, video games...I feel like it's really easy to say that as a kind of blanket statement...and you know there's probably a certain level of fear, right? I mean there's this kind of overseas threat, there was September 11th, maybe you're going to need one of these to defend your home."
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.
*Answers have been edited for clarity.
Moby talks about how he hit rock bottom before bouncing back
"The book starts and I'm squatting in an abandoned factory and I'm a sober christian, trying to get a record deal," said Moby in a recent conversation with Take Two's Alex Cohen at his Los Angeles home. "And the book ends and I've toured the world, but my career has come to an end. I'm a dissipated alcoholic. Things have not worked out. And then the book ends just as I'm releasing the album "Play.""
Moby's new memoir "Porcelein" explores ten turbulent years of the musician's life, from the early to the late 1990s, just before his career exploded.
And the beginning wasn't easy. Take for instance, a story that Moby tells about his first big performance, at The Palladium in New York. With 3,000 people in the audience, the main act cancels, and Moby is left to step in to fill the void:
"So people were booing and throwing things. And this was my first ever real show. And I walked over to my equipment and it had been unplugged. And I had this one piece of equipment, this Yamaha sampler, that... took about four minutes to load. So, I stood on stage in front of 3,000 people, booing and throwing things at me while I loaded floppy discs into my sampler.
The nice thing was at some point people just stop booing because they got bored. And then I played my set, it worked out OK, but those five minutes of walking on stage and being booed by 3,000 people while they pelted me with limes from cocktails and then seeing my equipment turned off, I'm pretty sure that's why I'm bald."
Moby and Cohen go deep while talking about his life, covering topics including where his name came from, how he's related to Herman Melville and why a Diana Ross song terrified him as a child, but is also responsible for his career.
Moby has a number of book signings coming up, which you can check out here.
To hear the entire conversation click on the audio embedded at the top of this post.
The GOP and the Libertarian Party
In Utah, the Libertarian Party could be poised to act as sort of an anti-Trump spoiler in this year’s Presidential election.
The party is focused on a few states where they can capitalize on a lot voter’s dissatisfaction with Donald Trump and the GOP candidate. We find out more with
from the LA Times.
Record-breaking heat expected to continue in Southern California
Records fell across Southern California Sunday, and the heat is still on. More extreme temperatures are expected to break records Monday, which forecasters have said will be the hottest day of an intense heat wave that has gripped the region.
“June gloom is on vacation, and we have an extremely heavy, large dome of high pressure over the American West,” said Bill Patzert, a climatologist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “And of course on top of that, today is the longest day of the year, so this is an intense, definitely record-challenging — and probably -breaking — heat event, and it’s dangerous.”
Patzert said it had already reached 100 degrees at JPL shortly after 10 a.m., and it was expected to rise above 110 degrees.
He noted that Death Valley could break its all-time record of 129 degrees, rising to 132 degrees.
All of this heat is unusual for June, Patzert said. Normally Southern California has its most intense heat in the months of August and September, with milder weather in June — hence the “June gloom.”
Looking ahead, Patzert said residents should be prepared for a long, hot summer.
“One thing I know for sure is that global warming is the real deal, and the last six years, we’ve broken global temperature records across the planet, so you’re all living in a warmer world due to all that CO2 we’re putting into the atmosphere,” Patzert said. “So you’re not going to be breaking any low records. From here on in, it’s high records.”
Sunday's heat melted SoCal records
On Sunday, several communities saw records fall. Burbank hit a new high of 109 degrees for that day, with the previous record of 104 degrees set in 1973.
In the Inland Empire, Ontario set a new record of 111 degrees, breaking the 105-degree record high from 2008. Palm Springs saw a record high of 119 degrees. Its previous record was 116 degrees, also set in 2008. And Riverside broke its 1922 record of 107 degrees with a new high of 111.
In Orange County, Fullerton shattered its previous record of 94 degrees set in 2008 with a high of 106. At John Wayne Airport, the thermometer registered 95 degrees, almost 10 degrees above the previous record set in 2008.
Several other communities came close to their records and registered well above normal for this time of year.
At Los Angeles International Airport, it was 85 degrees, 14 degrees above normal. Downtown L.A. was 96 degrees, 17 degrees above normal. And Long Beach Airport was 100 degrees, 23 degrees above normal.
Concern for SoCal's power grid
The California Independent System Operator, which maintains and operates the area’s electrical power grid, declared a Flex Alert for Monday for between the hours of 10 a.m. and 9 p.m.
The ISO said consumers are urged to limit their electricity use by turning off unnecessary lights and using major appliances only after 9 p.m.
ISO officials have also warned the natural gas leak at Aliso Canyon could lead to energy shortages during this summer. In a pinch, power plants normally burn natural gas to boost the supply, and Aliso Canyon was a major supplier for that gas. Without it, Southern California could see electric supply interruptions on an estimated 14 days throughout the summer, according to an ISO analysis.
As always, the excessive heat also brings with it a heightened fire danger, as residents of Silver Lake and nearby discovered when a house fire spread to the brush near the 2 Freeway on Sunday.
Reporter Vanessa Romo lives in nearby Echo Park. When she realized her home could be in danger, she grabbed her water hose and jumped into action, spraying down her house and property.
Her advice for homeowners, even in communities where they may not normally be thinking about the threat from brush fires, was this:
"Do not cheap out on a long, long, long water hose. So I actually have put it on my list of things to do, is to go to Home Depot and buy a second water hose so that I can make sure that I can cover the front of the house as well as the back of the house."
Patzert also warned people to take this heat wave seriously. For tips on how to stay cool and protect yourself, you can check out KPCC’s heat hacks.
Click the blue player button above to hear the full interview with Patzert.
This story has been updated.
On the Lot: Dory finds a lot of money
Every week we get the latest news coming out of Hollywood, its our weekly segment, "On the Lot," with Rebecca Keegan of the Los Angeles Times. The big story of course being Disney/Pixar's Finding Dory, which broke the opening weekend record for an animated film:
We'll talk about how the ACLU is urging the NY legislature to pass a bill that would tie film/TV tax breaks to diversity and how other countries are tackling the diversity problem with state-linked financing. That and a lot more.
How NASA's 'rocket girls' shaped space exploration
When you think of the earliest rocket scientists you may imagine MEN with crew cuts and pocket protectors plotting satellite trajectories in smoke-filled rooms.
Yet some of the earliest number-crunchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena were highly skilled women who served as "human computers."
A new book tells their story. Nathalia Holt is the author of Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars. She joined Take Two with more
Audio to follow later today
Reading in the Moonlight: Summer literature picks
There's a full moon tonight - a strawberry moon. It's the first time a full moon has risen on the June Solstice in almost 70 years.
Yep, it's pretty special so we've brought in our pretty special literary contributor, David Kipen to talk books as he does every full moon. He's the founder of the Libros Schmibros lending library in Boyle Heights.
Kipen's picks:
- "Grace" by Natasha Deon. Deon is a LA-based lawyer who is a graduate of the PEN Emerging Voices program.
"The book takes place during the slavery era. It's a mother and her daughter, the mother of it dies halfway through and it's told from the perspective of her ghost. Which of course inevitably is going to remind people of Toni Morrison's 'Beloved'"
- "Finding the Flavors We Lost: From Bread to Bourbon, How Artisans Reclaimed American Food" by Patrick Kuh. Kuh is the Los Angeles magazine food critic.
"It's about artisanal cooking, how nobody was talking about it and now nobody shuts up about it. What could have been sort of an over told story he finds little stories around the edges that you had no idea even existed."
- "Multiple choice" by Alejandro Zambra
"By a Chilean author...it takes the form of a multiple choice test!"
- "Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway's Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises" by Lesley M. M. Blume
"About the writing of Ernest Hemingway's 'The Sun Also Rises'"
- "Melville in Love: The Secret Life of Herman Melville and the Muse of Moby-Dick" by Michael Shelden
"About the writing of Moby Dick, so literature continues to eat itself, apparently."
To hear the full interview, click the blue play button above.