Today, we discuss Clippers owner Donald Sterling's apology in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. Then, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel says he's the military's ban on transgender people in military should be reviewed. Plus, Orange County supes can study other efforts as they consider Laura's Law, how the gender gap affects our news consumption, is biking in Los Angeles getting any safer? And much more.
Clippers owner Donald Sterling apologizes, hints at ownership fight
In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, the Clippers owner was contrite about making racist comments:
"I'm a good member who made a mistake and I'm apologizing and I'm asking for forgiveness," he said. "Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It's a terrible mistake."
Sterling also gave some indication he might try to fight if NBA owners vote to force him to sell the Clippers. For more on all this, we reached Danny Cevalos, a legal analyst for CNN.
Chuck Hagel: Ban on transgender people in military should be reviewed
While the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" means gays and lesbians can now serve openly in the military, transgender service members are still banned.
But over the weekend, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in an interview with ABC's "This Week" that he was "open" to a review of the policy:
"It continually should be reviewed, I'm open to that, by the way. I'm open to those assessments. Because, again, I go back to the bottom line. Every qualified American who wants to serve our country should have the opportunity. If they fit the qualifications and can do it."
Professor Aaron Belkin, who studies transgender military service and is Director of the Palm Center at San Francisco State University, joins the show to talk about the Pentagon's policy on transgender people in the military.
LA Bike Week: Is cycling in Los Angeles getting any safer?
Today is the start of Metro's L.A. Bike Week, the annual event that promotes biking, ridesharing and other sustainable modes of transportation in the Los Angeles area.
The goal is to get more Angelenos out of their cars and onto their bikes, and for now it seems like efforts such as these are working.
According to a report out today from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, more Angelenos are riding their bikes year after year. The report, called the Bike and Ped Count, shows that biking in L.A. increased 7.5% from 2011 to 2013. The 2009 report counted 14,000 bicyclists and 62,000 pedestrians, and in 2011 counted more than 15,000 bicyclists and 75,000 pedestrians.
RELATED: LA's 2,043 annual bike accidents on a single map
Despite these positive changes, the report also finds that riding in the city still isn't as safe as it could be.
Los Angeles City Council Member Mike Bonin joins the show to talk about the state of biking in the city.
Interview Highlights:
The 2010 L.A. Bike Master Plan is supposed to turn Los Angeles into a more bikeable city. What's the status of that effort?
We're actually building out that bike system now. It's a multi-year project. The planning committee of the council last week just gave final approval to one of the centerpiece elements of that bike system, the MyFig project downtown on Figueroa. They will be making both a pedestrian- and a cyclist- friendly thoroughfare, including what they call a cycle track, which is a separated bicycle track, which is the safest and most convenient of all for cyclists.
Separated how, is there a barrier between car and bikers?
They range from the easiest, which is sharrows — just an arrow-like marking on the street that tell cyclists where to go and warns drivers that are going to be there — to actual painted bike lanes like we have on Spring Street downtown. You can do it through barriers, through ornamental features, and those are really sort of the platinum standard of a bicycle network. As we do a network throughout the city, we will have protected lanes, we will have regular lanes, we'll have sharrows, it all depends on the type of the street and the type of need in the network.
How do you fix the problem of cars going 50 mph next to bikers?
Everybody in Los Angeles needs to realize that we all are sharing the road. I'm as guilty as anybody when I'm on a bike, I get frustrated with people on automobile. When I'm in an automobile, I get frustrated with people on bikes. We all need to get better and more tolerant and appreciate that the road belongs to everybody.
Bicycles are covered under the same section of the state vehicle code as cars. They have the same rights on the road as a car. Now, by the same token, they also have the same responsibilities, so if we're going to be warning drivers that cyclists have an opportunity to drive down the middle of the road, they also need to be stopping at stop signs and stop lights.
But realistically it seems like it's really the cars that are going to keep speeding on, is it an educational piece?
That's why things called "road diet" have become more popular in cycling friendly cities. [That's] where you actually narrow the road to inhibit speeding and make things along with the protected bike lanes safer for cyclists.
What is the main goal of LA Bike Week?
I think what Bike Week gives us an opportunity to do is celebrate that cycling is on the rise here in Los Angeles. Cycling has gone up just 8 percent over the past two years and continues to go up...We also, at the same time during this week, need to acknowledge that not all bike facilities are equal. The more we can make our amenities safe and convenient, the more likely people are to use them and then they become an integrated part of a multi-model transportation system in Los Angeles.
We have got to get out of the gridlock and the frustration we all face. We've got to move from being just about the single occupancy vehicle to various forms of transportation and bikes are a huge part of that.
See a full list of Bike Week events here.
Kings vs Ducks: Frozen Freeway series tied, but not for long
The first ever Frozen Freeway series between the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks is tied at 2 in their best of seven. It all boils down to this: the team win two of the next three games will move on to the Western Conference finals.
For more on the series we go now to Dave Joseph, a reporter for ESPN LA 710 and the public address announcer for the Kings.
Infographic shows racial disparity when reporting on potential NFL players
A new interactive tool on Deadspin's website allows you to input a word from NFL scouting reports conducted by three media outlets and see on a graph how often the word was used to describe black players compared to their white counterparts (Click graphic to see interactive graphic).
Reuben Fischer-Baum, infographics editor of Deadspin, joins the show to talk about how and why they crunched these numbers, and what this data tells us about the perception of potential draft picks based on their race.
On The Lot: Bros win the box office, Cannes preview, Academy Museum and more
It's Monday, which means its time for On The Lot with Rebecca Keegan of the LA Times, our weekly look at the movie business.
We start with the weekend box office. The bro comedy, "Neighbors," bested the new Spiderman with $51.1 million. Bros beat superheros now?
Keegan profiled Seth Rogen and Zach Efron, the stars of "Neighbors," for the LA Times. How did this pair come together?
The glitzy Cannes film festival begins on the French Riviera on Wednesday. It's an interesting year at Cannes with a majority female jury. How significant is that?
There's an update to the Academy Museum that's in the works, as one of the architects is off the project. This comes after a scathing review from LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne at the Times.
Some controversy in the home viewing market: Netflix is raising its prices again but it's not bad news for everyone.
There are rumors of a Morrissey biopic in the works. Is this true?
Women in the Media: How the gender gap affects our news consumption
Gwen Ifill & Judy Woodruff…Rachel Maddow…Diane Sawyer…It seems like we see and hear from female journalists all the time, right?
Actually, it turns out that women are still drastically underrepresented in the news business. New research from the Women's Media Center shows that gender inequality among journalists persists across all media outlets.
Here to talk with us about the gender gap is the Women's Media Center's Rachel Larris.
Orange County supes can study other efforts as they consider Laura's Law
The Orange County Board of Supervisors is slated to vote tomorrow on whether to adopt a state law known as Laura's Law. It would allow the county to force certain people with severe mental illness to receive treatment.
As the supervisors consider the issue, KPCC's Rebecca Plevin reports they can look outside of Orange County for some guidance.
New initiative will help promote college-bound culture in East Los Angeles
Meanwhile, there's a new initiative aimed at promoting a college-going culture in East Los Angeles. "GO East LA: A Pathway for College and Career Success" will make it easier for Garfield High School students to gain admission to local colleges.
The initiative was developed by the presidents at Cal State LA and East LA College along with L.A. Board of Education member Monica Garcia. She joins Take Two to discuss.
New Arizona law would make abortion inaccessible in northern Arizona
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments tomorrow to decide whether to block new Arizona abortion regulations. The new law would make it more difficult for women in rural parts of the state to access abortion services. Proponents of the law argue it would make the abortion pill safer.
From KJZZ's Fronteras Desk in Flagstaff Laurel Morales reports.
Beth Otterstein has been a nurse practitioner at the FlagstaffPlanned Parenthood for three decades. She’s dealt with many changes over the years -- periods when the Flagstaff clinic couldn’t offer abortions for various legal reasons.
"People travel huge distances," Otterstein said. "Some of the reservation people might travel for three hours just to get right here to the Flagstaff clinic."
This clinic is only big enough to perform medication abortions using a pill known as RU486. Otterstein said in addition to the patients coming from Indian Country, she has women travelling from as far away as Utah, Southern Colorado and Nevada.
"We see some very sad cases," Otterstein said. "The one that always first comes to mind there’s a woman that was an abuse case from the reservation. Her partner was still at large. And she was badly abused badly abused. She had been in the Flagstaff shelter. And she had young children she has no transportation no money she has a man still looking for her."
Otterstein said the woman decided to terminate the pregnancy but was too far along for the abortion pill. So she had to travel down to Phoenix for the surgical procedure.
"It was just heart wrenching heart wrenching but we see these kinds of stories every few days," she said.
Otterstein said new regulations mean the clinic will likely be sending more women to Phoenix.
For one, recently approved regulations say only a physician can administer the pills. The Flagstaff clinic has a doctor one day a week.
Secondly, the law hung up in court would require women take both pills in the clinic with a doctor. And she’d have a shorter window to do it, before her seventh week of pregnancy.
But a woman typically finds out she’s pregnant in the fourth or fifth week. She comes to the Flagstaff clinic for the initial consultation. She has to wait for the doctor to come back a week later to take the first pill. And under the blocked law the doctor can no longer give her the second pill to take at home 48 hours later.
So that’s three separate appointments in a limiting timeframe.
"This law is about the health and safety of women," said Josh Kredit, legal counsel for the Center for Arizona Policy, which backed the law.
"The FDA, when they approved RU486 for use as a chemical abortion they intended to restrict the use of it basically saying this is such a dangerous drug we will only approve it under specific circumstances knowing it will be used a certain way," Kredit said.
That way also means women taking a higher dosage.
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association filed a brief with the court saying these FDA protocols are outdated and actually “prescribe a regime that is less safe.” And for women unwilling to make three trips to Phoenix, the pills become unattainable.
Stephanie, who didn’t want to use her last name, had to travel from Flagstaff down to Phoenix for a surgical abortion in 1998 because Flagstaff wasn’t offering abortion services at the time.
"It was difficult it was difficult because I assumed it was Planned Parenthood and I kind of assumed it was a big enough town I was going to be able to have the procedure done here," Stephanie said. "When they said no you can’t you have to have it down in Phoenix it was very emotional for me because I knew I had to find a way down there."
Stephanie made it down to Phoenix only to be told she’d have to come back in two weeks.
"Most women on the reservation and in rural communities and even in Flagstaff their choice is very limited," Stephanie said. "And their choice might be made by whether or not they can or cannot get down to Phoenix in a timely manner."
If the Ninth Circuit Court upholds these medication abortion regulations, the Flagstaff Planned Parenthood says it will have to hire another physician. And in the past, that’s been difficult to do.
Silicon Valley looks to cash in on Africa's mobile growth
We Americans love our smartphones. In fact, our devotion sometimes borders on addiction. Turns out, Africans share our obsession.
There's been a mobile explosion in Africa over the last few years, leading to the fastest mobile growth in the entire world. As more and more Africans get connected, Silicon Valley is taking notice. The high-tech titans are edging in, trying to figure out how to get in on the game over there. Senegal, a country that well represents Africa’s growing middle class, is a key test site for high tech.
KQED's Aarti Shahani visited Dakar, Senegal and sends us this report.
Big-headed ants could become a problem in Costa Mesa
A big-headed ant colony was recently discovered in Costa Mesa, and officials are using Spam to trap them.
Scientists say this invasive species could be a big problem for agriculture and officials are trying to keep the unwelcome ants in check. For more, we're joined by Mike Bennett, Orange County's agricultural commissioner.
How solar desalination could help parched farms
When a drought gets bad enough, like this one in California, people start debating the pros and cons of desalination. When someone says "de-sal," you may think about the process of extracting salt from seawater.
The California Report's Alice Daniel tells us about a new kind of "de-sal" far from the ocean in Fresno.
Sample ballots have just a sample of what voters need to know
When you crack open your sample ballot booklet to read about candidates running in the June 3 primary, be aware that you're getting only a part of the picture.
AudioVision: Tour the massive facility where sample ballots are printed
Fewer than one in five candidates chose to pay to have their biographical campaign statements published in the L.A. county version of the booklets.
KPCC's Sharon McNary has the story.
Why people are easily seduced by 'Diet Cults'
When it comes to experimenting with ways to eat, there are a lot of choices: The Warrior Diet, the South Beach Diet and the Paleo Diet to name a few.
For each of these diets there is a group of people that think their plan is best suited for people. But according to sports nutritionist Matt Fitzgerald, most of those diets are a waste of time.
Fitzgerald is the author of the new book "Diet Cults: The Surprising Fallacy at the Core of Nutrition Fads and a Guide to Healthy Eating for the Rest of Us."
He joins the show to talk about the book and to explain why people are seduced by "diet cults."
Vibram Lawsuit: Why are consumers so gullible to product claims
You know those running shoes that look like gloves for your feet?
They hit the market at the height of the Paleo diet trend and were supposed to simulate running barefoot. According to the company that makes them, they're also supposed to make your feet healthier and stronger over time.
Well, that company, Vibram Five Fingers, just settled a class-action lawsuit for $3.75 million over alleged false claims about the health benefits of wearing them. Beauty giant Revlon is also in the midst of a lawsuit over claims that a line of their products offers a "DNA Advantage." Plus, remember the Sketcher "Shape-ups" settlement?
Consumers are often quick to believe product claims with little scientific evidence to back them up, but why?
Here to talk with us about what makes us so gullible is Dr. Kit Yarrow, a Consumer Psychologist and author of Decoding the New Consumer Mind.